LEGO Brick Sketches 40457 Minnie Mouse Review

LEGO Brick Sketches were introduced last summer with a handful of DC and Star Wars sets (see our review of BB-8!), but they’ve been slow off the ground since. This year, we’ve only seen two new releases in the series – Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. They’re both lovely additions to the series, though, and after building LEGO Brick Sketches 40457 Minnie Mouse, we’re even more keen to see more sets in the range released.

What’s in the box?

Being a small set – just 140 pieces – the contents of the box here are pretty simple. Inside LEGO 40457 Minnie Mouse you’ll find four small un-numbered bags along with the instruction booklet. The instructions are pretty nice; they’re slightly bigger than A6 sized and feature a nice introduction from the designer (Chris McVeigh) as an opener.

(As a side note, McVeigh’s introduction is worth a read – he’s the creator of Brick Sketches as a concept. After sharing the first ever Brick Sketch on his social media, it proved popular, and from there it was eventually conceptualised as an official LEGO product range. Pretty cool!)

The Build

Unsurprisingly, putting together LEGO Brick Sketches 40457 Minnie Mouse is a pretty quick task. We were done in around 15 minutes, which is to be expected of a set of this size. But don’t let its small brick count fool you; Brick Sketches are unique builds and are a lot of fun, even if you’re a seasoned pro who’s used to putting together sets with thousands of pieces. There’s something satisfying about layering bricks together to create an image in a different way than you’re used to.

Because that’s what Brick Sketches are all about; bricks are layered together to build a 3D portrait of a character. In the early stages, it’s impossible to tell what you’re going to end up with, as seen in this picture below:

But as you add more layers of bricks, the details start to jump out and it comes together. There are some great brick uses in here too, such as the large circular pieces for Minnie’s ears, and the grates that act as her eyebrows. Our favourite piece, though, has to be the love heart, of which there are four in here: two as her shoulders, and two as her bow. (It’s worth noting it’s not a unique part – the red heart piece has appeared in six sets since 2019. But we still love it!)

Play or display?

LEGO Brick Sketches sets are pure display, and 40457 Minnie Mouse is no exception. It’s designed to be a piece of art, displayed on the wall or propped up on a shelf or tabletop. We do love the dual display function, though. The set comes with an arm so the set can be displayed on a flat surface, as well as a hanging bracket so it can be displayed on the wall. We’ve not decided where ours will be displayed permanently yet…

Value for money?

Interestingly, the first wave of Brick Sketches started out with an RRP of £17.99. That was later reduced to £14.99, which is not something we see very often. As such, LEGO Brick Sketches 40457 Minnie Mouse retails for £14.99. In terms of price-per-piece, it isn’t the cheapest, and maybe a price more in line with Brick Headz (i.e. £9.99) would make more sense.

But considering the ingenuity of Brick Sketches, and the craftsmanship that’s gone into its hanging/standing functionality, it really is hard to argue that they’re overpriced. It’s a piece of art for £14.99 – and even better, it’s one you get to build yourself. So yes, we’d say it provides great value for money.